A Seat At The Table

David Stout clearly recalls the time he attended his first meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Accounting Association, the largest community of accountants in academia.

“We went around the table and one by one introduced ourselves,” Stout says. “There was someone from Michigan State, from North Carolina, from Northwestern, from the University of Pittsburgh and Arkansas and Brigham Young and so on and so on.”

And there was David Stout from Youngstown State University.

“To have a seat at that table with representatives from all of those other prestigious schools is certainly a feather in YSU’s cap,” he says.

Stout, the John S. and Doris M. Andrews Chair of Accounting at the Williamson College of Business Administration, says the presence of YSU in those types of national academic settings is vital as the university continues to emerge as a research institution of national importance.

That’s the reason why the YSU Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the university, has made endowed chairs, such as the Andrews Chair, and endowed professorships a priority in its capital fundraising campaign, which is expected to go public this fall. In a feasibility study prior to the campaign, donors ranked endowed chairs and professorships as the second highest priority for funding.

“We were a little surprised, but very pleased, that endowed chairs and professorships resonated so much with our donors,” said Paul McFadden, Foundation president.

“But, when you think about it, the university’s overarching goal is to become a national model for student-centered, comprehensive urban universities. That means putting the spotlight on excellence in teaching and research, and advancing this excellence begins with an investment in faculty.”

Endowed chairs or professorships are faculty positions that combine a traditional faculty post with enhancements funded from the interest on the principal of the gift to the university. Being named an endowed chair is a prestigious award, and in many cases is a lifetime appointment.

YSU established its first endowed chair in 2001 – the Andrews Chair in Accounting – in honor of a $1 million gift from the John S. and Doris M. Andrews Trust. Stout, a nationally-recognized professor at Villanova University, was hired to fill the position in 2003. He retires at the end of this academic year. The college is conducting a national search for a replacement.

In addition to the Andrews chair, YSU has established the Lariccia Family Chair in Accounting and Finance and the Clayman Professorship in Judaic and Holocaust Studies. Both of those positions are currently vacant.

As a part of the current fund-raising campaign, the university has established the Friedman Chair in Engineering, thanks to a $2.5 million gift from Morris and Phyllis Friedman. That position was filled last year by Eric MacDonald, a world leader and respected researcher in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.

“We are thrilled to have someone of Eric’s stature join the YSU team and to serve as a resource for our students, our faculty and the community,” said Wim Steelant, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.”

The fund-raising campaign also received a $1 million gift from the estate of David and Helga Ives to establish a Distinguished Visiting Humanities Scholar, providing funding for a scholar to come to YSU to teach, present seminars and conduct research.

“These positions provide YSU the opportunity to bring in nationally and internationally recognized leaders in their field,” Provost Martin Abraham said. “They elevate the stature of our programs in many ways, benefiting our students and faculty, and providing a stronger reputation that allows us to recruit a more diverse and more highly qualified student population.”

Ultimately, Abraham said, recruiting students depends in large part on the perceived value that the student will receive from attending a particular university.

“Value is based on how much is gained relative to how much is paid,” he said. “The endowed chair contributes to the amount gained. A student will select YSU because they will have an opportunity to work with professors who are among the leaders in their field.”

The same goes for recruiting faculty, Stout says. “Having an endowed position certainly sends a signal to young, aspiring faculty regarding the attractiveness and potential value of a YSU faculty appointment,” he said.

Since Stout’s appointment 13 years ago, YSU ranks seventh in the nation for accounting education research, according to Accounting Research Rankings developed by two professors at Brigham Young University. YSU’s ranking is above that of many nationally recognized research universities.

Individually, Stout has also achieved significant national recognition, including the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Educator Award in 2015 and the Lifetime Service Award in 2016. In addition, he has served as editor of two national accounting journals and has published more than 100 articles in various professional and academic journals.

“David has been instrumental in increasing our visibility at the national level, mentoring our students including publishing with MBA students, and playing an integral role in the development of our new Master of Accountancy Program,” said Betty Jo Licata, dean of the Williamson College of Business Administration. “We will miss his intellect, expertise and insight. He has set the bar very high for how endowed chairs operate and how they impact the quality of education at YSU.”

YSU has lofty hopes for MacDonald, as well.

He came to YSU in September from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was the Texas Instruments Endowed Professor, associate director of the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation and the director of the ASICs Laboratory. He has served faculty fellowships at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, and he was a Fulbright Scholar for the State Department in Chile.

MacDonald has received more than $3.8 million in research funding as principal investigator, and an additional $12 million as co-principal investigator, from funders such as Lockheed Martin Corp., the Department of Defense, NASA and the National Science Foundation.

In addition, he has three patents, one that was licensed by Sony and Toshiba. Last fall, he co-authored a peer-reviewed article on 3D printing in Science, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals.